A couple years ago, I created a profile on Instagram with the name “thidameetsdahworld“. (it’s still alive, so follow me if you will) Funny thing is I have no idea why the name is as such. I had no plans to travel, no plans to migrate again away from this magnificent lion city I was living in and literally no plans as to how I was actually going to “meet the world”. What I knew however was that someday I would bring myself to travel to every corner of the world, have a couple cups of coffee or tea with people of colour I befriend along the way and perhaps learn to say hello in several languages at least. It was only in last April, when I learnt of the good news that I was actually accepted into UWC Robert Bosch College in Germany, that it hit me. Maybe I was actually meant to meet the world. I just didn’t know it yet.
Then, when I broke the news to one friend of mine by the name of Rad, she said, “Thida, like I always said, everything happens for a reason.” I am going to sidetrack a little and introduce you to Rad since I am making this blog a little personal. She has been one of the sweetest little puffball I have ever known in my existence who is also multi-talented, in singing as well as analyzing historical events and current affairs, yet still has a pretty huge grip on the concept of humility despite her brilliance. I would love to feature her some day to talk about her hatred for the Sciences but I would rather not let you read this 600-page essay she is going to come up with. Earlier this year in February, when I was really upset over my Junior College posting, she said,”Thida, everything happens for a reason. Maybe there is a reason why you have to be upset about not getting into School X. Everything will work out fine.” And up to that point when I heard the same phrase from her again, I had no idea what it meant. Now, looking back I do believe that everything does happen for a reason even though sometimes the reason may come later than the event itself.
When I started out, I meant for this post to be “about myself” but I guess I will let you all find out about me along the way. But what I really want to share with you in my first post is my take on choices. My elitist self has always had me settle for the best and nothing less than the best, which is also especially applicable when it comes to my school choices. What it did however was very poorly prepared me for the many failures I am going to encounter in life. So naturally, I was upset and even slightly depressed that I was posted to School Y and not School X. It was the greatest failure to me and sadly, it was a failure which made ME feel like a FAILURE.
But in that two months of walking around like a zombie and having no sense of purpose, I have learnt so much more about life than I have possibly done in my entire existence. It was that juncture in life where you have to make a choice without anyone telling you what the options are. You gotta dig them out yourself and knock some sense into yourself to choose the right way. They were pretty gruesome two months but I am glad that I went through it because I know now that I can CHOOSE to stay positive and carry on every day with the same radiant drive which will be unwavered by any outcome, because I can CHOOSE to understand now that the journey matters so much more than the outcome. “When we hit rock bottom, the only way it up.” And it is up to us to cower in misery in the corner of the pitch black pit or have the brains to tell ourselves that the only way to survive is to climb up.
Despite my considerably pessimistic nature, I do believe now that “There is a silver lining to every cloud.” It is just that it takes a few out-of-the-world amazing friends and a miracle to make you learn to have faith. Sometimes we don’t have to be the brightest gem to have a value. We are all worthy of our own greatness and trust me, you are not any less valuable than anyone. There is value in your character, abilities and feelings. We have to have faith that humanity is sensible enough to respect us for those and not our backgrounds, positions, jobs and the cash we are drawing. I can’t even describe how much I appreciate my friends and family for opening up my eyes to this beautiful truth.
To end this on a happy note, I am going to be writing more about my preparations before flying off and by the end of August, I promise to have pretty photos of scenic Germany flooding in. I really hope to leave something to take away in all my posts but there are times when we just really want to be silly. Hopefully, this blog can be a source of entertainment to you and myself.
With A Lot of Love
Thida
P. S. A lot of you might be puzzled by this post as to how going to UWC has got anything to do with meeting the world, which is why I think I am going to consider dedicating my next post to answering “What is UWC?” Or I might just direct you to my best bud Shayna who has already done that in her blog. (Hope to let you know more about her in the upcoming blogs.)
THIDA MEETS THE WORLD 